2014 Football Preseason Discussion Thread

[Devil in the Blue Dress]

Seats with backs? Hallelujah!

The seat width may be more important than that seat back.

When Eddie Cameron drew up his idea for seats in Cameron, I believe I read that there was a choice of 19" seats or 17". The wider seats were chosen.... that's proven to be a very wise decision.

There are seat backs in Kenan, for example, but the width of the individual seat allowing more tickets to be sold and the unyielding angle of the back make for a torture chamber environment for game day.

I'm not complaining. It's simply that I have very high standards.

[uh_no]

Seats with backs? Hallelujah!

seats with no legroom? sigh.

[OldPhiKap]

seats with no legroom? sigh.

At my age, knees heal quicker than backs.

[Devil in the Blue Dress]

Anyone who's bought furniture knows that a chair may look good in a picture and be very uncomfortable to sit in. How comfortable these new seats will be is an unknown at this time.

[PDDuke85]

Anyone who's bought furniture knows that a chair may look good in a picture and be very uncomfortable to sit in. How comfortable these new seats will be is an unknown at this time.

Call me the eternal optimist but I anticipate using the new modern seats for a brief period prior to the National Anthem, and half time. Otherwise, I look forward to standing for most of the game. Go Cut, Go Duke.

[devildeac]

Seats with backs? Hallelujah!

We'd love to see your (Boston) butt in one of those this season.

[OldPhiKap]

We'd love to see your (Boston) butt in one of those this season.

Smoking one tonight for the World Cup. Bone in this time, thankfully.

Hope to make a game, and another bowl. Great to finally meet you, Ozzie, and deac-in-law at the Peach-fil-A.

[Bob Green]

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[CameronBornAndBred]

seats with no legroom? sigh.

Exactly. Sitting in Kenan sucks for that very reason. (Also sucks because of the ugly colors on the field.)

[Devil in the Blue Dress]

Call me the eternal optimist but I anticipate using the new modern seats for a brief period prior to the National Anthem, and half time. Otherwise, I look forward to standing for most of the game. Go Cut, Go Duke.

Since I'm rather short, I hope your seats are not in front of me! I'm very involved in the game, monitoring the coaches on the sidelines and checking out treatment of any injuries behind the bench.

[uh_no]

Exactly. Sitting in Kenan sucks for that very reason. (Also sucks because of the ugly colors on the field.)

well, and the municipality, and the university, and the fans...but i see your point

[Bob Green]

No timetable for cornerback Johnathan Lloyd's return after arthroscopic surgery on his left ankle.

http://duke.scout.com/story/1413836-...-surgery?s=167

[Bob Green]

Defensive back preview:

http://vimeo.com/98946078

Coach Cutcliffe states the secondary has the chance to be the best in the ACC. We had three All ACC guys at safety with Jeremy Cash, Deondre Singleton and DeVon Edwards. He does express concern about depth and says Johnathan Lloyd and T.J. Douglas were moved the DB because they are extremely talented guys. Coach says Breon Borders and Bryon Fields are penciled in as the starters at cornerback.

An information filled video clip for sure.

[CameronBornAndBred]

Reasons why Duke is a favorite to repeat as Coastal champion.

Here is one of the biggest: Duke is the only team in the ACC to return its leading passer, rusher and receiver from a year ago. The Blue Devils return their top two leading tacklers, too.

http://espn.go.com/blog/acc/post/_/i...-is-a-favorite

[Olympic Fan]

Defensive back preview:

http://vimeo.com/98946078

Coach Cutcliffe states the secondary has the chance to be the best in the ACC. We had three All ACC guys at safety with Jeremy Cash, Deondre Singleton and DeVon Edwards. He does express concern about depth and says Johnathan Lloyd and T.J. Douglas were moved the DB because they are extremely talented guys. Coach says Breon Borders and Bryon Fields are penciled in as the starters at cornerback.

An information filled video clip for sure.

I can understand Coach Cut's concerns about depth -- two years ago, safety appeared to be out deepest position, but we have some many injuries and defections (remember August Campbell and Chris Taveras?) that by the end of the season, we were recruiting DBs out of the stands.

I LOVE our starting secondary -- which is amazingly young: we're going to start three true sophomores (CB Borders, CB Fields, S Singleton) and a redshirt sophomore (S D Edwards), plus a redshirt junior who has played just one year at Duke (S Jeremy Cash). That's as good a defensive backfield is there is in the ACC.

But we do have backup options. McCarthy and Norman have both started in the past. Quay Mann and Evrett Edwards are redshirt freshmen who were both around for the spring before their freshman season -- E Edwards is the most highly touted DB we've signed. Just because we redshirted him, don't forget him -- we redshirted Ross Cockrell and DeVon Edwards and look how they turned out!

One of the best things about our DBs are their flexibility -- we have five positions, but a number of those kids can play more than one. We have more experienced depth at safety with Norman and McCarthy, but D Edwards is also a great corner ... I love the two new guys coming in, especially CB Saxton. They could play as true freshmen (Borders and Fields did).

So we could withstand an injury or two. Yeah, a succession of injuries as in 2012 could hurt, but that's true of any position -- and any team.

I think of all the positions on the Duke team, we start the season in the best shape in the defensive backfield (I might have said QB if Connette had come back or RB if Duncan was available).

[Bob Green]

The roster at GoDuke.com has been updated. Freshmen have been added while Brandon Connette (transfer to Fresno State), Michael Westray (dismissed for violating team rules), Jared Boyd (medical redshirt) and Mario Sanders (medical redshirt) have been removed. By my count, we are at 85 now.

I suspect Boyd and Sanders' careers could be over but that is just my opinion.

http://www.goduke.com/SportSelect.db...43&SPSID=22667

Laken Tomlinson now listed at 330, Matt Skura 305, Takoby Cofield 310, Tanner Stone 300, Lucas Patrick 305. The starting offensive line averages 310.

Here is a video interview with Laken Tomlinson:

http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.db...DB_OEM_ID=4200

[Bob Green]

... I love the two new guys coming in, especially CB Saxton. They could play as true freshmen (Borders and Fields did).

Everything I've read and seen (video clips) indicates Saxton is a playmaker. We need 10 defensive backs to fill out the 2 Deep roster so Saxton playing as a true freshman is a possibility.

[Bob Green]

Carlos Wray sporting a new haircut:

http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.db...B_OEM_ID=4200#

He comes across as a down to earth, hardworking young man in the interview in which he emphasizes leadership by example.

[johnb]

and from the chronicle,

http://www.dukechronicle.com/article...otball-edition

[Devil in the Blue Dress]

and from the chronicle,

http://www.dukechronicle.com/article...otball-edition

Following this article there is a comment made by a member of the Class of 1982 which may be of some interest. It sounds as if the person making the comment expects to learn that admission standards have fallen and perhaps the team's GPA is meaningless. The person who wrote it makes comments which make me think of the current mess in Chapel Hill. Are success as an athlete and success a student somehow incompatible?